


Scars of the Past

by Bloody-Medic (khan_noonien_singh)



Series: From the Life and Undeath of Nikolas Valentin [1]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Blood Drinking, Blunt Force Trauma(pairing), M/M, Not Beta Read, Quick-Fix, Vampire Medic, Vampire Turning, Vampirism, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-19 09:24:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3604917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khan_noonien_singh/pseuds/Bloody-Medic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My name is Nikolas Valentin. I am a Medic for the Reliable Excavation Demolition company in the Gravel Wars of 1968. I am 46 years old.</p><p>Or so they believe.<br/>This is my story, from where it all began...</p><p>From the original Gravel Wars between the Mann Brothers, to now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Journal and the Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> This story may not be canon-compliant. I don't know exactly when the Second Gravel Wars(TF2-verse) began, or when the First Gravel Wars(TFC-verse) began. I only know the major things. Redmont and Blutarch hate each other, they hired teams of mercs... bla-bla-bla.
> 
> I hope my lack of canon does not affect your enjoyment of the story.
> 
> Now, on to the fic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The death of Nikolas Valentin on 15 March, 1829, was greatly exaggerated. Perhaps he did die, but he was just as alive as ever.
> 
> Though the cost of undeath is heartbreak, in the form of the loss of a sibling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon may not make sense with this fic, bear with me please. :)

13 March 1829

Maybe they were right... Maybe I am crazy... Vampires do not exist. The creature that bit me must have been a wild animal of some sort. Yes, that would explain so much... But then, why do I suddenly have a severe sensitivity to light? Why does the scent of blood make my mouth water? What is wrong with me, that I cannot even feel my own pulse? This is troubling... I must ask my colleagues about this. Yes, they would know... At least, I hope they do...

 

 

14 March 1829

I was wrong. The wound from the bite mark is gone. I must have imagined it. Perhaps there was no animal, perhaps I was exposed to some sort of chemical that made me hallucinate the entire thing. I will have to think about this...

 

[The rest of the journal is blank, filled with bloodstained pages. Some of the pages are torn, others are burned. It is unclear what has happened to the writer.]

 

Fritz had found my journal, thank Gott. I cannot believe I forgot it in my laboratory. I expressed my thanks to my brother before he left, letting me stretch my legs before having to act dead again, in the coffin... It was meant to be my funeral, after all. It would not do for my colleagues to find out that I had cheated death.

"It is time," Fritz murmured, just loud enough that my enhanced senses could pick up on his voice. I laid back in the coffin again, in the same position, but with my journal under my back so it would be safe from prying eyes.

 

Little did I know, this would be the last time I saw my brother for over a century.


	2. The Turning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the funeral, Nikolas reflects on his turning. After all, he would be buried in just a few days, and he needed to think...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been learning German for a while, so while I've been using Google Translate for it, I've also been checking for grammatical correctness. 
> 
> Let me know, any native German speakers, if I messed anything up? :)

12 March, 1829. The day Nikolas was attacked.

The air was crisp, clear, which wasn't uncommon for a night in the small town where Nikolas grew up. But the blood-red moon, on the other hand, was... He shuddered, a quick blast of cool air raising goosebumps on his arms. It would be the last night of his life, though he didn't realize it at the time...

 

He ducked into an alleyway, having seen one of his colleagues. Franz, who wasn't very fond of him. The man had made it his life's duty to get Nikolas fired from the clinic, and with the string of unsolvable murders, if Franz saw Nikolas 'lurking' about in the darkness, he'd surely attempt to frame the younger German. Professional rivalry, and all that... Nikolas was so intent on avoiding Franz that he hadn't heard the footsteps behind him until it was too late, and some sort of needle was jabbed into his neck. He heard a dark chuckle before he blacked out, definitely a male voice...

 

When Nikolas came to, the next morning, the first thing he noticed was the brightness. The second thing, however, was that he had been dumped outside his home. The assailant knew where he had been staying, and that disturbed him more than anything... Even more than the bite-wound on his throat. Of course, being the scientist he was, the first thing Nikolas did was go into his home and find his journal, to document the events of the night before.

 

Perhaps it was a bit ridiculous, thinking he'd become a vampire. After all, so many other things caused photosensitivity, and the scent of blood had always interested him. But looking in the mirror at his reflection- or rather, his lack of reflection, there was no denying it. The man who'd attacked him, was a vampire, and now, so was he. "Verdammte Scheiße... Ich brauche einen Drink..." he muttered, resting his forehead against the edge of the sink. Something told him that beer wouldn't help, though...

  


Of course, his twin had to come in at just that exact time, and the human gently tapped Nikolas's shoulder. "Nikki? Alles in Ordnung?" Fritz asked, having seen the lack of reflection in the mirror. He knew what that meant, and he didn't care. Nikolas was his brother, he'd help the vampire escape the country. Maybe send him to America, meet him there in a few years...

"Nein... Ich bin kein Mensch... Nichts in Ordnung..." Nikolas rasped, his eyes closed. He only hoped his brother would ignore the fact that he was a vampire now, and help him. He turned to Fritz with a sigh, opening his eyes and looking at his brother. "Bitte... Erzähl niemand..."

  


  


This was only the beginning of a long journey for the man known as Nikolas Valentin...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German Translations:  
> Verdammte Scheiße... Ich brauche einen Drink... -- Bloody hell... I need a drink...  
> Alles in Ordnung? -- Everything okay?/Everything alright?  
> Nein... Ich bin kein Mensch... Nichts in Ordnung... -- No... I'm not human... Nothing's okay...  
> Bitte... Erzähl niemand... -- Please... Tell no one...


	3. Mann Co, RED, and Australium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolas is recruited by Redmont Mann's secretary, Miss Pauling, to be a Medic for the Reliable Excavation Demolition mercenary team, where he gets to work with a strange new substance called Australium. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, but I've finally managed to write another chapter :D
> 
> Let's just say that this is where Nikki discovers Australium and creates(with Radigan Conagher's help, of course) the Respawn device and the Medigun... ;)

28 June, 1890

_Fick... Ich muss gehen..._ Nikolas muttered, swiftly packing what few belongings he had into a single duffle bag, alongside a large number of fresh, bloody bones. If the  _Polizei_ found him, with a whole human skeleton in his bag, he was in for much worse than just undeath... He looked over his shoulder at the door, which already had someone banging on it, demanding to be let into the small apartment. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he opened the nearest window and jumped out, landing gracefully on his feet. He ran for several hours, only stopping when he was sure the police wouldn't find him. That experiment had been a success, seeing if vampire blood could keep someone alive without their skeleton, but he'd lost his medical license and his job, as well as had the cops called on him for his so-called 'criminal insanity.

He stayed the night in some small-town motel, paying the owner in cash. If the man found him, a German doctor with quite a bit of blood on his coat, suspicious, he'd keep silent, if only because the amount he'd been paid was far more than the cost of the tiny room. After all, as Nik had learned, money does make the world go round... And it worked as a more effective gag than any piece of fabric.

That night was the last night he'd be on the run, though. A certain red-loving old man had taken an interest in him, as he'd managed to 'cheat death and remain young' for such a long time... He'd sent his secretary, a young Miss Helena Pauling, to find Nikolas and hire him, no matter the cost, to assist his Engineer with building a life-extending machine.

Needless to say, he jumped on the offer as soon as he found out he'd be able to experiment without fear of legal persecution, or of vampire hunters finding out about him(Helena had figured that out when she'd seen the pale skin and crimson eyes), and the next day, he was off to the small town of Teufort.

 

13 November, 1893

_BANG._ A loud noise as Nikolas slammed his fist against the solid steel wall, leaving a rather deep dent. Nothing he was doing was working... He couldn't figure out what was wrong. Something was missing from the formula, that was for certain... He was so close, so very close, to being able to bring back the recently deceased, he just  _knew_ it...

A knock at the door of the operating theatre startled him, and he whipped out the bonesaw he carried at all times as he spun around to face- None other than the team Engineer, Radigan Conagher. "Hey, pardner, no need to be so jumpy," the Texan drawled, his hands in the air.

"Ach, apologies... I vas expecting somevun else..." Nikolas lowered the bonesaw and sighed. "Zhe ozher team's Medic has been bozhering me about how I am able to heal myself so quickly, he vas going to come by after today's battle... Any progress on zhat machine Redmont has us vorking on?"

"Nah, I asked th'Sniper if he had any ideas 'bout any Aussie stuff that could help, but he didn't reply- Wait, where're ya goin, Doc?" Radigan asked as the Medic rushed past him.

Nikolas paused in the doorway with a smirk. "I haff a feeling zhat Herr Sniper knows far more zhan he is letting on..." With that, he swept out of the room, his coat fluttering behind him.

 

13 November, 1893 - Later

Radigan had winced at the sounds of the Sniper's screams coming from the Australian's room, but he had no desire to know what the poor man had gone through at the hands of the Medic. If he asked, he'd probably get a first-hand display of the insane man's actions...

Speaking of whom... Nikolas re-entered the operating theatre with an IV-bag-sized bag of gold-colored fluid, smirking. "Zhis is vhat he vas hiding... Australium, he called it... Some sort of element similar to gold, but supposedly vizh a special property to make zhe person touching or ingesting it stronger, faster, und smarter zhan most. It's vhy Australia is so technologically advanced, according to him." As an afterthought, he added, "You might vant to make a mechanical hand for him, by zhe vay. His current left hand is useless, at zhe moment..." The vampire hooked the bag up to an IV drip stand, before setting up the tubes and needles to introduce the fluid to his system. "I vould appreciate some privacy for zhis, Herr Engineer, if you vouldn't mind..."

Conagher left quickly after that, not wanting any part in Nik's crazy scheme. He headed down to the Sniper's room to check on the man, wincing at the sight of the blood everywhere and a hand that was partly stripped to the bone, still attached to its owner's wrist.

As soon as the Engineer had left the room, Nik had jammed the IV needle into his arm and opened the valve on the tubes. It took a few minutes for him to notice any effect, but when he did, it was like a rush of power had consumed him, giving him greater strength than he'd ever had before. It was addicting, he had to admit, the rush of the foreign substance's effects... The only issue was that it was the only bag of liquid Australium he had obtained from the Sniper, and so couldn't use much of it for this experiment of his. It just might've been what had been missing from his formula he'd been working on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick FYI, I know the original Gravel Wars started in 1930, since I did research, but I figure that the Mann brothers had enough of a rivalry that they hired mercenaries to try to kill each other long before then.
> 
> So yes, I am using a timeline for the story, and my timeline differs only slightly from the official one.
> 
> Also, Helena Pauling is my name for the Administrator when she was a young girl(20s), and she obtained some of the life-extending technology, which is why she is in TF2's universe.
> 
> Fick... Ich muss gehen... - Fuck... I need to leave...


End file.
